I'm certainly not in favor of indiscriminate spraying, nor of questionable and harmful practices that may have been used in the past, but I think that I would actually read the book before I claimed to know all about it. Sheep don't die and dogs and cats don't sicken now? Under what circumstances and conditions did 90% of barn cats supposedly die, and in what area? It has always been my understanding that the toxicity of DDT was not the problem, but rather it's cumulative effects in the food chain, ending with weakened egg shells in top raptor predators. You can cry that the sky is falling, and look for things to worry about, but I also see that the bald eagle is soon to be delisted, the whooping crane is making some good progress, and coyotes are increasing in numbers and range, and moving into uban areas. I don't like japanese beetles either. Maybe if you collect them and put them all on your Kudzu, you'll at least solve one of your invasives problems.

Accomplish? Only to alert people to the fact that this surge protector has the potential to catch fire. I rather imagine many people leave their computer on all of the time thinking the surge protector will guard their equipment. Perhaps this is naive but there it is, the last thing I ever expected was for the thing to suffer a melt down. The thing is that we have other electronics hooked up to surge protectors (other brands) and none of them caught fire. We have one that no longer works but that is my understanding of what is supposed to happen when they take a hit. They no longer work and need to be replaced. I hope to make people aware of the problem and that perhaps they should not buy this particular brand since the problem seems to be ongoing and with other models. In addition, based on my experience the company doesn't seem to be overly concerned that there could be a safety issue. . I wish I had been better informed before I purchased this item and thought I might be able to help someone else by reporting this. I don't really need any help since I think I have done about as much as I can do at this point by contacting the Product Safety Commission, Consumer Affairs, etc. And by being allowed to post the information on this forum. Thanks for your reply.

Probably useful to not just set a realistic goal, but some simple, practical and, hopefully, fairly easy steps to get one started and keep the project going. With some minor objectives along the route, to encourage one to work toward something to be achieved soon. I have a couple of things that I plan to work on, but to get to work on them prior to the New Year. When you're 90+ ... how many New Years can you more or less realistically count on? Or at any age, for that matter: just refer to the Covid issue, that was on few of our radars, last year at this time. If U.S. folks were to ask some of those who refuse to wear masks whether, in the light of one in five deaths worldwide from covid being in the U.S., which sure doesn't have one fifth of the world's population, could we perhaps consider that our demands that each should be free to choose one's lifestyle have anything to do with it? When I was a kid, I was taught that the other side of the (supposed) nickel that says "Freedom" on one side ... ... must say "Responsibility" on the other side ... ... or people won't accept it as having any value. We're sure finding out that what goes on in the (worldwide) community affects all of us, aren't we? We had a drive-by activity at our United Church on Saturday, with a few dressed as Magi collecting bus tickets and goods for a chaplaincy at a low-income community in our neighbourhood. I showed a letter just received showing a radio with a mask, sent from Farm Radio International, who have a newscaster on national radio as sponsor, who have supported radio programs from more than dozens of radio stations in Africa helping over a million farmers to improve their skills. Recently they've been providing a lot of info on coping with Covid, as well, apparently greatly appreciated in many small communities. As a teen with a couple of younger brothers helping Dad operate a fairly large farm when our hired hands went to World War II in about 1940 ... I still have some roots fairly deep in the soil. And having helped some refugees fron North Korea get back on their feet in South Korea in the mid 50s, with some churches' help following the Korean War, I have learned that limiting one's width of view to one or even a few countries can have disastrous consequences, often to people who had no part in putting the problem together. End of rant - sorry for highjacking your thread, Lucille ole joyfuelled

Amy, holy smokes! ( ha ha, not that this is funny). What good dogs to alert you. I’m glad there was no more damage than some grass for you. I feel very sorry for your neighbor. I’m sure she is mortified. Your property is lovely, even if slightly scorched. What a way to wake up.